


Of coming home to you

by TDaL



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, DCU
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, JayTim Week, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, jaytimweek:vde
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-17
Updated: 2017-02-17
Packaged: 2018-09-25 01:03:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9795377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TDaL/pseuds/TDaL
Summary: Having a soulmate is rough on its own. It's even more so when your past together is less than stellar. Jason returns to Gotham and finds Tim waiting for him, but he can't fathom why.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Dedicating this to [Nevolition](http://nevolition.tumblr.com/). We both agree that angst is the way to go.

It’d been weeks since Jason left Gotham, since he had run away from it.

It wasn’t an uncommon occurrence for him to suddenly leave, but this time things had just gotten way too overwhelming and Jason hadn’t known what to do. He’d run to Kori and Roy. Just one look and they knew. They whisked him away with no questions asked. Sometimes it scared Jason how good they had gotten at reading him, but he low-key loved them for it.

Coming back to Gotham was always an inevitability. It was never a question of _if_ , but a question of _when_. No matter how hard he tried, Jason just couldn’t stay away. How would he ever be able to stay away?

Jason trudged into his safe house, dropping his bag on the floor. There was a part of him that was happy to be home again, but there was another part that was screaming at him to leave and never look back.

It was the childish part buried deep inside of him that only ever showed up when he was scared.

And Jason was. He was really scared.

He removed his jacket and kicked off his shoes before he noticed that something was wrong. Jason had been gone for weeks. The apartment didn’t smell musty at all and there wasn’t any dust lingering. In fact, it smelled like it’d been aired out recently. Much too recently.

There weren’t a lot of people that knew about his safe houses. In particular this one. The one that was the only constant one that he kept. This was the safe house that Jason might hazard to call home. All of the belongings that meant something were here. So for someone to intrude on that made his stomach sink.

Jason was as quiet as he could be as he walked through the apartment. There were little traces here and there that someone had been here recently. There was garbage in the trash can and there were a few mugs that were stained with coffee. Upon further inspection Jason saw that the things in the trash were chip bags and donut boxes.

He let out a sigh. There was only one person that could’ve left those things. Only one person who knew about this safe house and how to get in without setting off the many traps that Jason had placed.

The question of if that person was actually still around was answered when Jason walked into the bedroom.

There the culprit was.

Tim Drake.

It took Jason a moment to take him in. Tim had woken up, probably when Jason came into the apartment and started moving around.

They just stared at each other. Jason gripped the doorframe and Tim was just sitting up on the bed, his hair tousled. His breath caught when he saw that Tim was wearing one of his spare jackets. Why was he wearing that? What were the implications? How long had he been hanging around?

He’d never left anyone like Tim before. Someone that meant so much to him.

Jason’s body lurched forward and within a few strides he was standing by the bed, placing his hand on the back of Tim’s neck and pulling him in to kiss him. Jason didn’t have any words, so he’d let his body say what he couldn’t.

Jason had thought of Tim while he’d been gone, even though he’d tried so hard not to. Tim was part of the reason that Jason ran away. Dick found out how close they were getting and he’d confronted Jason about it. He’d thrown everything that Jason had ever done back in his face. How he’d hurt Tim, how he’d tried to kill him. Dick Grayson was an expert at walking in and screwing things up. He’d come in and forcibly pulled out all of the frustration, and fury, and guilt that Jason had dredged up inside of him and Dick hadn’t stopped.

He hadn’t stopped and Jason ran away. The thing that he did the best. When he was a kid he’d gotten enough of the brunt of Dick’s wrath and this time he didn’t have to stay.

Now Jason had come back and here Tim was.

Here Tim was, stiffening in his hold. Of course. Why wouldn’t he? Jason started to pull away, but the instant that he shifted Tim wrapped his arms around him and started kissing back.

As soon as that happened Jason surged forward. His other hand gripped Tim’s side, clenching his leather jacket. The jacket that Tim was wearing, curled up in his bed, still dressed in his Red Robin uniform. He’d been here. Like he’d been waiting for Jason to come back to him.

When they pulled away they were both out of breath. Jason pressed his forehead against Tim’s, not wanting to break the contact between them yet. They’d become close before he’d left, but they’d never been this close. They’d never kissed. There had only been fleeting touches.

Jason was about to lean in to kiss Tim again when Tim’s eyes suddenly flicked to the side. His arm moved up as well and pushed the sleeve of Jason’s shirt away.

Jason looked over and saw what had distracted Tim. He’d gotten used to seeing the black vine-like tattoo on his arm. It became a bit of a hobby of his to look at it every time it grew. He’d marvelled at how the tattoo had slowly spread across his skin, but it was different now. Now there was a splash of colour. Almost quite literally. It looked like someone had taken paint and let it drip off of the brush.

A splash of colour. A bright orange mark. There was colour on him. Jason thought himself lucky enough that he and Tim had gotten close enough that the black markings had started to grow, and now there was colour.

Soulmates weren’t rare, but they weren’t common either. A small percentage of the population had them and when he’d been younger Jason held the hope that it meant that he was going to be something more than he was. Then he’d lost his mother and gone to live on the streets and it hadn’t been important anymore. Not until Bruce had come along and picked him up and one day Jason noticed that his tattoo had grown. Tattoos only started growing when a person came in contact with their soulmate. Jason had been so excited, except for the fact that he didn’t know who had touched him. He’d fully planned on finding out, but then he’d died.

After he came back there was no thought in his mind belonging to finding out who his soulmate was. The only thoughts were about his plans and his rage. Then he’d gone to Titans Tower and he’d left behind a trail of blood. It was only after he’d washed it all off that Jason noticed that his tattoo had grown. Tim was the only one that Jason touched that night.

Somehow they’d managed to make it work, very slowly. Once Jason managed to shake his anger off and Tim stopped being so suspicious of every move that Jason made around him.

It’d been going in the right direction. Up until Dick had found out of course.

Now they were here.

Jason’s mind was reeling and he never thought that they’d actually get this far. He never thought that a relationship such as theirs that had started off with so much animosity could grow to something like this. He looked over and saw that Tim was smiling. Not just any other smile. No, it was an actual nerdy, dopey grin.

And Jason just. He didn’t even know what to think. He never thought that Tim would ever be capable of something so bright and he couldn’t help but smile back.

Tim ruined the moment by opening his mouth. “You’re not getting your jacket back. Sorry. But not really.”

Jason burst out into laughter. What else was he supposed to do? What Tim said was absurd. Everything about this was absurd. He kept laughing to the point where it was almost hysterical. Just kept laughing as all of the worries and aches he was feeling just started washing off of him.

Tim start laughing along with him. It was silent at first, but it picked up suddenly and Tim snorted. Actually genuinely snorted and Jason almost broke. Tim was slapping him on the arm. “You think this is funny? I’m dead serious! Finders keepers, Jason. Good luck getting through the Gotham winter without this jacket, pal!”

“You…fucking s-snorted!” Jason managed to get out in between his laughs. His eyes were tearing up and his sides ached. He just leaned against Tim, ignoring the way that the younger man was hitting him. This was good. It was almost perfect and Jason just wanted to stay close to Tim.

“Shut up!” Tim pinched his side and Jason swatted his hand away. “Do you know how many candy wrappers I found in the pockets? Like, honestly! How many butterscotch sweets do you go through in one day?”

They laugh together until it inevitably trailed off. They gathered themselves and Tim started tugging him onto the bed. Jason got rid of his pants and shirt and by the time he lied down, Tim had gotten out of his clothes as well, now only wearing the tank he had under his uniform and his boxers.

They shifted so they were facing each other on the bed and Jason wanted to see Tim’s back. He wanted to see how Tim’s tattoo had changed. It must have. It always changed along with Jason’s. For now though, Jason was content with pulling Tim close and trying to sleep.

The excitement had worn off and now Jason was tried. He drifted off feeling Tim wrap their legs together.

-

Sometime during the night Tim had rolled away from Jason in his sleep and now Jason had view of his back.

He’d woken up first and he was glad that he had. That Jason had the chance to take in the tattoo on Tim’s back.

There is was. An orange mark similar to the one that had appeared on Jason’s arm, but Jason likened the one on Tim to be like a flower. It had blossomed on a thin black tendril that ran off of Tim’s left shoulder blade.

Before he’d left, Jason had been constantly admiring Tim’s markings. He recalled one memorable moment where they’d been at Tim’s apartment. They talked about what life had been like before they’d become Robin. Jason told Tim about Catharine and Willis, but Tim had taken a little more to open up. First he had skirted around the topic, but soon he started talking about Janet and Jack Drake.

It was a serious talk, but nothing too serious – they hadn’t been that far at that point. Tim stretched up as they continued talking, standing on his tip toes to grab a case file off of a shelf and it caused his shirt to ride up. One second Jason was just seeing pale skin, and the next he watched as in an instant the tattoo appeared from under Tim’s shirt and grew along his lower back.

Jason got up, in a trance, and moved in to run his fingers over the tattoo as it grew. He couldn’t help it. He had just been so fascinated by it and to actually see it grow in front of his eyes? There was nothing that would’ve stopped him. Jason hadn’t even noticed Tim jump a little at the touch or the way that his neck had turned red after he realized what Jason was doing.

This was even more entrancing now, even though Jason hadn’t seen the splash of colour appear before his eyes. He hesitated, though. They’d been slowly setting boundaries, but they’d never talked about this. The conversation had never even gotten close to that.

Jason and Tim were in bed together and it wasn’t for anything other than the fact that they wanted to be close to each other. Jason had never thought that a relationship could be like this.

“I hear you thinking from here,” Tim mumbled.

“I’ve been told that thinking isn’t really my strong suit,” Jason quiped, barely holding back a wince. He watched as Tim stretched, arching his back and groaning lowly when something popped. “What the fuck do you do to your back?”

Tim hummed under his breath, reaching up to scratch the side of his head. “Sitting in a chair all day, getting thrown against dumpsters all night. Same old. You know you can touch me, right?”

Jason felt like an idiot when Tim looked over his shoulder. Was he really that obvious? “I didn’t want to while you were sleeping.”

“But I want you to.” Whatever emotional meaning might have been behind those words was immediately dashed when Tim yawned audibly, his mouth opening wide.

Even thought he’d been given explicit permission, Jason still hesitated. This was different from before. It was much more intimate, in a way. Nothing like what it had been before when he’d touched Tim out of impulse. There was thought behind this touch. There was meaning.

“What does it look like?” Tim asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Yours looks like a paint splatter. Is mine the same?”

Jason looked at his arm and then at Tim’s back. “No. It’s like a flower.”

Tim hummed and he rested his head back down on the pillow. “Describe it for me.”

“You do realize that you can see it in the mirror, right?” Jason asked.

“I want to hear it from you.” Tim pushed himself back so he lessened the distance between him and Jason.

Damn Tim for making it even more tempting to touch him. Jason gulped as he reached out and carefully placed his fingers on Tim’s back. First he trailed along the black tendril, then Jason started tracing the outline of the colour. “It’s the same colour, but it looks like a flower. One with large petals. Kind of like a lotus I guess?” Jason didn’t exactly know how to explain it otherwise. He didn’t know many flowers.

A barely visible shiver went through Tim. “I bet it looks nice.”

“It’s beautiful,” Jason blurted out.

 “Of course it is, you put it on me,” Tim said before he rolled over so he was facing Jason. His eyes were still droopy with sleep and the corners of his mouth were curled up.

“I just kissed you,” Jason pointed out. Tim said that Jason had put it on him, but that wasn’t true. Jason might have kissed him, but if Tim hadn’t reciprocated the kiss – and by extension his feelings – then nothing would have appeared at all. His eyes narrowed in on a scar on Tim’s neck. One that Jason had caused with malicious intent.

Tim seemed to understand what Jason was thinking, because he reached out and grabbed Jason’s hand. He kissed Jason’s palm before he placed it over the scar. “This doesn’t mean anything.”

Anxiousness boiled in Jason’s gut. “How can you say that? I tried to kill you, Tim. How many scars on your body are because of me?”

Tim scoffed and started chuckling. Jason just stared at him. How could he be so aloof about this? It was a serious matter. It was true that back then Jason hadn’t known that Tim was his soulmate, but still. It didn’t change what he’d done. “I’m well aware, thanks for the reminder Jason.”

“You’re a fucking idiot.” Jason told Tim.

Tim just smiled at him again. A small smile, but one that reached his eyes. “I’m your idiot.”

The anxiousness left Jason with a rush and he quickly moved his gaze to the headboard. It was hard to ignore how warm his cheeks suddenly felt. “Doesn’t change the fact that you’re an idiot.”

Tim chuckled and he moved in closer. He stopped, leaving just enough space between them so they weren’t touching. “Is this okay?”

His heart felt like it was going to burst out of his chest. God dammit, Jason was supposed to have better self-control than this. “Yeah…”

A hand was gently placed on his cheek and Jason’s eyes slid closed as Tim’s fingers slowly trailed over it. Jason could feel everything. The way that his hands were dry and that Tim’s fingers were covered in callouses. Tim’s thumb came down and he traced the outline of Jason’s mouth, just barely not touching his lip. “It this okay too?”

“Yeah, it is.” Jason opened his eyes again so he could look at Tim. This close he could see the bags under Tim’s eyes. It wasn’t too surprising that Tim looked tired, but it was worse than Jason had ever seen.

“What about this?” Tim leaned in even closer now. He kept moving in until their lips were barely touching.

Jason didn’t need to answer that verbally. He just closed the distance between them. Tim’s lips were chapped, but that somehow made it better. Jason could feel the way their lips moved together ever more now. It was a simple kiss. Slow and lazy. Perfect for their morning.

Tim was the one who pulled away. He moved his hand from Jason’s cheek to cup the side of his neck. “I want to touch you.”

Jason’s mind felt like it short circuited. “What?”

It must have been clear what he was thinking, because Tim backpedaled, shaking his head. “No! No, I mean just…simple touches. I want to hold your hand and stuff...”

“Oh…” Jason had never been in a relationship. This was all very new to him, but he could tell that it was weighing on Tim’s mind. “Yeah. I’d…like that.”

Tim replied by kissing Jason’s jaw before he ducked his head under Jason’s chin. “Right now I want this.”

“That I can definitely do.” Jason would even do better than that. He wrapped his arm around Tim’s waist and tugged him in close.

He could feel Tim’s smile against his collarbone and Jason decided that this was definitely something that he could get used to.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I am a dumpster collecting trash. Join me on [Tumblr](http://flashthroughlight.tumblr.com/).


End file.
